Laos makes Southeast Asia’s largest ever drug bust

PHNOM PENH, Oct 28, 2021, Yahoo! News. The UN crime agency says it has recorded Southeast Asia’s biggest-ever drug seizure. Police in Laos intercepted a truck carrying 55 million amphethamine tablets and more than 1.5 tonnes of crystal methamphetamine, Yahoo! News reported.

The discovery came after police stopped a truck carrying beer crates in Bokeo, which borders Thailand and Myanmar.

The area – known as the Golden Triangle – has a long history of being a major drug-producing hotspot.

Jeremy Douglas, Southeast Asia regional representative for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said that it is “by far the largest seizure in the history of East and Southeast Asia”.

The record bust comes after police recently seized a combined 16 million amphetamine tablets in two separate operations in the same area over a one week period.

In the UK, amphetamine tablets are Class B and crystal methamphetamine is Class A.

There has been a significant increase in Golden Triangle drug supply in recent months due to unrest in Myanmar’s Shan state, which borders China, Laos and Thailand, Mr Douglas told the BBC.

“Neighbours and the wider region are getting absolutely flooded with methamphetamine, and there is little doubt it is connected to the governance situation in Shan,” he said.

Strict Covid and security measures on China’s Yunnan border with Myanmar “appear to be at least partly why trafficking has increased east into Laos and south into Thailand” to avoid losses, he added.

The huge haul was packed into Lao Brewery beer crates.

The Lao Brewery Company said it has “no involvement in this case whatsoever”.

“We are deeply disappointed that our crates have been abused as a cover for illegal activities and will not hesitate to take immediate illegal action towards anyone misusing our company assets,” it said in a statement.